


Talk about it

by Adara_Rose



Series: one to make him happy [1]
Category: Mass Effect
Genre: Fluff and Angst, M/M, Multi, Multiple Partners, Mutual Pining, Polyamorous Character
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-12-20
Updated: 2015-12-20
Packaged: 2018-05-08 00:22:06
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,706
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5476079
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Adara_Rose/pseuds/Adara_Rose
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>They are three broken hearts trying to navigate the minefield from hell and none of them have a map. All they know is that they love him.<br/>Liara has had enough of the self pitying and whacks them all with the proverbial clue-by-four.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Talk about it

Kaidan walked into the shuttle bay with great reluctance.

"Hey guys, we need to talk."

He was met with a frown from Cortez and stony silence from Vega. He sighed, running his fingers through his hair in frustration. This was like trying to navigate a minefield, except it wasn't mines he was worried about stepping on but feelings. How the hell had they managed to end up in this shitpile, anyways? Oh, right. One wild night on Omega. Now they were in a mess up to their ears, and hurt feelings all around. That last bit was what was really bothering him. Especially John’s. That lost look in the commander’s eyes never failed to rip his heart to shreds. Hell, he loved the man. Had loved him since he first saw him, all those years ago. Young, handsome, smiling like the sun with that adorable missing front tooth and dimples in both cheeks. His teeth were perfect now, but damn he missed that gap sometimes. But he still had those dimples. They just didn’t show up much these days. Shepard was walking around the Normandy with woebegone eyes, not talking to him. He was pretty sure Shepard wasn’t talking to Cortez or Vega, either. All because of that night. The night they had sandwiched him between them, taking turns making him scream in wild ecstasy, clawing and biting and wailing their names as he came over and over and over again, insatiable for them. All three of them. It had been… hell, it had been amazing.

Kaidan realised that he had been losing himself in memories when a snarled “What do you want, Alenko?” from Vega dragged him back to reality.

“As I said. We need to talk.”

“‘bout what.” Vega still glared at him in a way that would have left him missing limbs if looks could kill, and Cortez was apparently very determined to not look at either of them. Kaidan sighed again. He had been doing that a lot lately.

“About John. And us.”

“What the hell is there to talk about?” Vega scowled, but his anger was only a cover for the pain flashing briefly in those dark, dark eyes. Kaidan wasn’t the only one who had lost his heart to their commander. Cortez still stood as still as a statue, not looking at either of them, a weapon he had been working on lying useless in front of him on the workbench. His voice was soft when he spoke up.

“I’m in love with him.” And that was the root of the problem, wasn’t it?  
“So am I” said Kaidan. “Vega, too. Whether he wants to admit it or not.” There was silence. The uncomfortable kind, full of unvoiced accusations and recriminations. And pain. God, the pain. Three broken hearts trying to navigate the minefield from hell and none of them had a map. Cortez put the weapon down and turned around slowly, leaning against the workbench as if it was the only thing keeping him upright. Maybe it was. The look in his eyes was that of a lost little boy being told mummy wasn’t gonna come back ever again. Kaidan felt the urge to hug him. Weird.

“So what the hell do we do?” he murmured, still not looking at either of them. “Best man wins?”

Vega muttered a curse and helplessly punched a poor piece of armor. He winced in pain, rubbing his knuckles. Kaidan felt another urge; this time, to kiss away the pain. Huh, even weirder.

“What” he snarled, “Like Loco’s a fuckin’ trophy?” Kaidan shook his head.

“Not gonna happen.” The other two frowned, Cortez finally looking at him.

“What do you mean?”

“He’s never gonna pick one of us over the others.” Kaidan shook his head. “Not knowing it’d hurt the other two. Hell, the man is completely incapable of hurting anyone. Mr Nice Guy to the bone, drives me crazy.”

“Me too” Vega said, his voice unusually soft. “He’d stop to hug a fuckin’ krogan if he thought the guy needed it.”

Kaidan chuckled softly.

“Yeah, bleeding heart through and through. Stupid bastard.”

“So what the hell do we do?” Cortez looked helpless, lost. Kaidan shook his head.

“I… I don’t know. I just… Hell, I just wanna be with him. In any way I can. He won’t look at me. It… it hurts.”

“Like a knife to the chest.” Kaidan blinked. It had been said softly, sadly, but it hadn’t been Cortez who said it.

For several moments they just stood there, looking helplessly at each other. Hurting, aching, not knowing what to do. What to say. They’d outlaid the problem. They all loved the same man, all wanted to be with him. There was going to be two broken hearts at the end of this clusterfuck. The question was whose.

“I dream of him every night” Cortez whispered. “Worse now, when I know what he tastes like. The look on his face when he-” he broke off, shaking his head. Turned his face away.

Kaidan sank down slowly, leaning against the wall. He felt so unbearably tired. Heartsore. Exhausted. He wanted to sleep for a thousand years. Preferably in John’s arms. But he wasn’t sure that John wanted him there. Or maybe he did. Maybe that was the problem.

The depressing atmosphere was cut by the sound of the elevator, and the three men could not help but look towards it, each of them hoping in his heart of hearts that it was the commander coming to say that he had made a decision. That he had chosen one of them. That he had chosen him, loved him.

Liara stepping out was a bit of an anticlimax.

 

“It feels like I’ve shown up unannounced at a wake” she said by way of greeting, looking up from the flexi she seemed to be permanently attached to.

“What do you want, Liara?” Kaidan sighed. He really wasn’t in the mood for anything but wallowing in self pity at the moment.  

“Oh, I found something interesting at the extranet and thought I’d share.”

“If this is more human/turian porn I’m really not in the mood.” He said, ignoring the snort of laughter from Vega. Asshole, what did he know? The human had looked like John. His John.

“No, it’s about Mindoir. Well, to be specific, the Mindorian Male.” She was rewarded by three blank stares.

“Oh, honestly. You three all proclaim to be crazy in love with him and you don’t know anything about his home planet?” Blank stares turned guilty.

“EDI told me you were discussing the fact that he won’t choose. Of course he won’t choose, he can’t. That’s the problem. He thinks you won’t understand. Or accept the fact that he looks human, his DNA is mostly human, but he is first and foremost from Mindoir.”

“What do you mean,” there was a note of hope in Cortez’ voice, “he can’t choose?”

Liara read aloud from the flexi.

_“Due to the nature of their genetic composition the Mindorian Male is programmed to seek multiple compatible mates. The average Male will mate with two to four suitable males at the same time, to ensure variated genetic material for future offspring. Families consisting of one birth father and a number of spawn fathers are the rule. In the majority of cases the birth father will have intimate relations with the spawn fathers, but the spawn fathers do not have intimate relations with each other. In rare cases, the spawn fathers will be in a polyamorous relationship with the birth father as the emotional center.”_

There was silence. The kind that happens right before a dropped bomb detonates. Liara rolled her eyes at the three dumbfounded males in front of her.

“He’s imprinted on all three of you, you idiots. There is no competition. He’s hook line and sinker for all three of you. He won’t choose because he _can’t_.” Liara tapped her flexi a few times.

“Now that we’ve cleared that up, will you please just drag the guy up to his quarters and work this out? You’re giving everybody a headache. And if Tali and I have to sit through one more session of ‘I love them but I don’t know how to say it without making them think I’m a slut and what am I going to do?’ we’re going to chuck Shepard out the nearest airlock.” She tapped her foot impatiently.

“Well?” She demanded. “What are you going to do?” Kaidan stood up slowly. He opened his mouth to speak, but was interrupted by Vega.

“What we should have done weeks ago” he said, and before Kaidan knew what the hell was happening, Vega had him pressed back against the wall, a strong leg between his thighs, their mouths glued together. He opened his mouth to protest but was interrupted by a greedy tongue slipping in to tangle with his. Fuck, it was hot. He heard a moan from somewhere but wasn’t completely sure who had made it. Then Vega - no, _James_ \- pulled back, panting.

“Damn, Alenko, should have done that weeks ago.”

“What happens now?” He panted, breathless.

“Now you, me and Esteban go find our man. We need to talk.”

“Yes” Cortez - Steve, he needed to remember to call them by their first names - agreed, nodding. “I think we should start by grovelling. And apologizing.”

“Finally!” Liara crowed happily. “He’s in his quarters. Moping. Don’t let him out until he’s too damn sore to walk, would you?” She batted her lashes at them in an attempt to seem coquettish. Kaidan snorted with laughter. Liara was many things, but she was not coquettish. “For Tali and me?” She added hopefully.

“Think we can do that, T’Soni” James smirked. “Bet I’ll make him scream the loudest.”

“Not a chance” Steve declared. “He loves my tongue.”

“Hah, you’re on, Esteban.”

“You’re both wrong” Kaidan said cheerily as he dragged James towards the elevator, Steve following at a more leisurely pace. “Or have you both forgotten how he wailed when I blew him?”

“TMI!” Liara shrieked somewhere behind them. “TMI! TMI! I HATE YOU ALL!”

Kaidan laughed. Things were looking up. They could work out the details later. Preferably in bed.

 


End file.
